I blinked, sort of startled by that, but I recovered quickly. “Just because you know Clyde and my mom doesn’t mean you know me or can tell me what I can or cannot do.”

Reece sighed. “Kids . . .”

He was ignored. Again. “Oh, it’s just not that. I’ve slept with you. That makes you my problem.”

“Whoa,” murmured Reece.

My mouth dropped open. “You have not slept with me!”

“Oh, we did sleep together.” His lips kicked up on one side. “And I know damn well you haven’t forgotten that.”

Oh my God.

“Or waking up with me,” he added, his eyes warming. “Yeah, that.”

Oh my good God. I whipped toward Reece. “He doesn’t mean what you think he means.”

Reece held up his hands as if he was saying don’t bring me into this.

I whipped right back to Jax, who was grinning smugly, but before I could say a word, and I had no idea what to say after all that, he clapped his hand around the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my hair.

“It’s our problem,” he said, voice low. “Okay? You want to find your mom, I’ll help and I’ll be right beside you, but you aren’t doing this alone.”

I opened my mouth to argue that I didn’t need his help. I’d spent most of my life not needing help, but Reece cut in before I could go further. “You did good, Calla, telling Jax what’s going on. So many people out there think they can handle shit alone, when in reality, a first grader knows they need help. Continue being smart about this. While some of the people around here are mainly harmless, this whole situation is treading into dangerous territory. Be smart. Be safe.”

Those words somehow made it through the haze of irritation. Be smart. Be safe. In other words, don’t be dumb. And it was one thing being dumb when it came to Jax, but another when it came to getting myself hurt or worse.

So I nodded.

Jax gently squeezed the back of my neck and then dropped his hand. “That’s a good girl.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll get some of the boys looking for Mona, too, and we’ll step up getting in contact with Isaiah. Meanwhile, I’d suggest staying close to Jax or Clyde.” Reece took a breath. “And I want to talk to Mack.”

I stiffened. “You can’t do that.”

“I didn’t say I was going to talk to Mack about you. I don’t like the fact that he’s threatened you, but I’m also going to be smart about it.”

“It can’t bounce back on her,” Jax said.

“It won’t.” Reece smiled tightly. “Trust me, Mack will do something within twenty-four hours that will warrant a visit from me. I can force his attention elsewhere, at least for the time being.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jax stated.

None of this really sounded like a great plan to me, but what did I know? Reece got up to leave, saying he’d be in touch, and Jax walked outside with him. I slumped back against the couch and was in the middle of an obnoxious yawn when Jax returned.